A Very Mario Christmas
by Super Hyper Mario 128 III
Summary: Mario was expecting a peaceful holiday season, but when Peach wants him to direct a play they are going to perform for an orphanage, will he be able to keep his sanity and still have a Merry Christmas?
1. Another December Evening

Snow fell gently down to the streets of Mushroom City in the waning hours of another December evening. A myriad of toad shoppers ran to and fro in a frantic search to find the best deals, the cutest decorations, or that video game system their child just _had_ to have in one of the various shops that were lined up and down virtually every street. In the middle of all this hustle and bustle, a somewhat tall and thin man wearing a heavy, green, winter coat and a knit cap with an 'L' embezzled on the front weaved between shoppers, desperately trying to keep his grip on the plethora of shopping bags he had his arms around. Bells from within the bags jingled as he dodged his way down the sidewalk, their rhythmic ringing being interrupted every time he bumped into someone.

"Whoops! Excuse me, mam," Luigi apologized as he knocked into yet another female toad, "kinda having a little trouble keeping all these things balanced, you see. Heh, heh..."

Eventually, he reached the street where he remembered parking his car. Unfortunately, the snowfall was beginning to pick up, and all the cars parked on the side of the road were already transformed into identical snowdrifts.

"Oh, great..." Luigi moaned, "Stupid snowplow musta pushed all the snow on the street right on top of all these cars! How am I supposed to find my car in this?"

Suddenly, Luigi got an idea. While managing to keep all the bags in his arms, he stuck his hand in his coat pocket and pulled out his car keys. Looking down the side of the street, he pushed the 'Panic' button on his car remote, expecting to receive a _very_ big clue as to where his car was. However, quite unexpectedly, the sounds of a blasting horn came from _behind_ Luigi, startling him. He leaped about a foot into the air, tossing his bags higher into the sky, while their contents were launched even higher. Thankfully, he managed to land back on his feet, grab the bags on their way back down, _and_ catch all of their contents back into the bags. Having recovered (and without losing a single thing), Luigi whirled around to see the flashing headlights of his car penetrating through a snow bank behind him.

"Oh, _there_ you are..."

Carefully setting his goods down, Luigi walked over to his car and began dusting the snow off it. It took a good five minutes before he finally managed to free the _Green Fire_ out from underneath the snow. After he was done with that, he grabbed his bags and placed them onto the back platform of his kart, as it didn't truly have a trunk (or a roof, for that matter). He then took out a rope and wrapped it around the luggage and the handlebars, securing it to the car.

"Phew!" Luigi sighed, wiping his brow, "Okie dokie, I got everything I needed! I better start heading home before this weather gets any worse!"

Luigi climbed into the driver's seat of the go-kart and drove off. As he navigated the city streets, he took his time to observe all the shop windows he passed by, assuming his view wasn't blocked by a large number of toads who collected in front of the windows to see them themselves. As he left the business district and drove into the residential area, the huge crowds slowly dissolved, but signs of Christmas were still everywhere. Driving down a decoration-strewn street, Luigi turned on the radio to listen to some Christmas songs as he went.

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas,  
Let your heart be light  
From now on,  
our troubles will be out of sight _

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,  
Make the Yule-tide gay,  
From now on,  
our troubles will be miles away.

As the song continued, Luigi had finally left the outskirts of Mushroom City and was now driving through the countryside, where once rolling green hills were now covered in a blanket of snow. A short time later, he finally reached his destination: Mario's Pad. Although he had 'won' a huge, luxurious mansion about five years ago, he still liked to spend the holidays with his brother, Mario.

Pulling the car into the driveway, Luigi climbed out, grabbed all the bags in the back, and made his way to the front door. Having no free hand to knock, he simply made due with kicking at the door.

"Hey! Mario!" Luigi called in, "Open the door! It's-a me, Luigi!"

No response. Luigi set the bags down, pulled out the extra house key he always kept around, and opened the door himself. At this point, it was almost completely dark outside, and the temperature was almost below zero, so it was quite a relief for the green-clad plumber to enter the warm home. He set his bags on the kitchen counter and immediately began searching for Mario. It didn't take him very long to find him: Mario was in the living room, sleeping in an easy chair by the fireplace.

"There you are, Mario! Come on, bro, wake up!"

Luigi nudged his brother, but he simply shifted his position in the chair and remained asleep. Undaunted, Luigi returned to his shopping bags and pulled out a Christmas CD he bought. Walking over to the stereo system that was right next to Mario, Luigi put the disk in, selected the track, cranked up the volume, and hit play.

_ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH!!!_

"MOMMA MIA!!!" Mario shouted, jumping out of his chair. Luigi laughed as he quickly turned the stereo off.

"Are you up now, bro?" the younger brother jested.

"Yeah, and with a ruptured eardrum, thanks to you..." Mario grumbled, cleaning out his ear with his pinky finger, "I don't recall asking for a wake-up call..."

"Well, I needed to get you up _some_how... Besides, I finally got us our decorations. Wanna help me set them up?"

"Sure! I'd be glad to! It's my house, after all!"

The Mario Brothers walked over to where Luigi left all the bags and began dumping their contents out onto the kitchen table. Mario promptly began looking through everything.

"Let's see here... Wreaths... Scented candles... About ten miles of Christmas lights... Huh? What's this?"

Mario held up what looked like _very_ skinny pine tree.

"Oh! That's an artificial Christmas tree!" Luigi explained, "I was getting sick of having pine tree droppings all over the carpet after the holidays, so I finally broke down and got a fake tree."

"Are you sure it's a tree? Looks more like some sort of Yuletide baseball bat."

"The guy said it has 'easy set-up', so I guess it just sort of opens up when push a button or something," Luigi continued, taking the tree out of Mario's hands, "where do you want this thing set up?"

"Um... Over by the fireplace is good, I guess."

Luigi took the tree over to where Mario directed and set it down. He then began to attempt to open it.

"Okay... So I presume that the button's under here somewhere..." Luigi pondered as he felt around the base of the tree, "Ah, ha! Here it is!"

He pushed the button and, suddenly, the tree expanded like an umbrella, knocking Luigi backwards into Mario, causing both of them to fall to the ground. Apparently, the tree was also pre-decorated, as when the brothers recovered, they saw a tree filled to the brim with ornaments, lights, candy canes, and a huge star on the very top.

"Gee... Talk about your instant gratification..." Mario mumbled, "Whatever happened to decorating the tree?"

"Beats me," Luigi replied, "there must be some verrrrry lazy people out there... Anyway, the tree's up, let's work on the rest of the house!"

And so they did. With Christmas carols slowly playing in the background, Mario and Luigi began 'decking the halls' of their humble abode.

"So, you got any plans for Christmas, Mario?" Luigi asked as he lit a scented candle over the fireplace mantle, "Is Peach throwing another party this year?"

"Actually, I'm not sure..." Mario replied, setting up a small, festive shrub on the middle of the coffee table, "She usually sends the invitations out by now, but I haven't gotten it yet."

"Maybe she just figures you'd come regardless," Luigi joked.

"Right... I'm starting to think maybe she's planning something... _different_ this year. I dunno... What about you? What plans do _you_ have?"

"Well, I was thinking about inviting Daisy over for Christmas. I hear they don't get much snow in Sarasaland, so I think she'll enjoy finally having a white Christmas."

"Heh, heh, if you do that, she's going to _your _house. This place is a confirmed bachelor's pad!"

"I'll keep that in mind..."

Eventually, the Mario Bros. finally finished decorating their home. Relaxing on the sofa, the brothers admired their work.

"Phew! This is why I don't decorate often!" Mario sighed, sipping on a glass of eggnog.

"Oh please, it wasn't that bad!" Luigi countered, "At least I didn't make you do the outdoors stuff. It's freezing out there!"

"Yeah, but I bet you'll make me to that tomorrow morning, aren't you?"

"Um... Maybe..."

There was a few minutes of silence as the duo enjoyed the songs that continued to come from the stereo.

"Well..." Mario began as he let out a big yawn, "I think it's time we went to bed, eh? You're bed's still where it should be."

"Good thing," Luigi replied, getting up from the sofa, "otherwise I'd have to go back to my mansion, and I'm not braving that weather again!"

Luigi walked over to the bedroom. Sure enough, his bed was still there, right next to Mario's. He promptly changed into his pajamas and climbed under the sheets. As he began to drift off into sleep, he listened to the carols still coming from the living room.

_Here we are as in olden days,  
Happy golden days of yore.  
Faithful friends who are dear to us  
Gather near to us once more. _

Through the years  
We all will be together,  
If the Fates allow  
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.  
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.


	2. A Christmas Play?

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas _

_Ev'rywhere you go; _

_Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again _

_With candy canes and silver lanes aglow. _

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, _

_Toys in ev'ry store, _

_But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be _

_on your own front door._

Mario groggily turned over in his bed and looked at his radio alarm clock, which was now blasting out carols. 6:30? Why on earth would he get up that early? Unless...

"LUIGI!" he shouted. Apparently, his brother must have heard him, as he quickly ran into the room, carrying at least a mile of Christmas lights rolled up under his right arm.

"Yeah, bro?" Luigi asked, with a mischievous smile.

"Did you change the alarm on my clock? Last time I checked, I had that thing set to nine..."

"Well, I need help setting up the outside decorations, you know!"

Mario glanced out the window and noticed that it was still pitch black.

"Luigi, the sun's not even out yet! Are you crazy!?"

"It'll be out by the time you get ready. Let's-a go, sleepy-head!"

Mumbling some choice words in Italian, Mario got himself out from under the sanctuary of the warm covers and walked into the frigid hallway.

"Good grief, Luigi, if you're gonna wake me up this early, at least turn the heat on! It's freezing in here!"

Luigi didn't reply, as he was already outside, stringing some lights around the windows. Sighing in disbelief, Mario went into the bathroom (with its icy tiles that he was less than thrilled to walk on) to get ready for the day. By the time Mario finally got outside, the sun was rising, just as Luigi predicted. As for the man in green himself, he was currently twirling a string of lights around above his head like a lasso. Once it picked up speed, he threw it towards a tree and landed on the top few branches, where he then tightened the 'lasso'. Afterwards, he simply ran around the tree clockwise a few times. When he was done, the lights looked like they were spiraling down the tree.

"So, did you do that with every tree in the yard?" Mario inquired as he walked up to his brother.

"Nope," Luigi responded, grabbing another string of lights, "Sometimes, I ran counterclockwise."

"MAIL CALL!"

The Mario Brothers looked to the sky and, sure enough, the official mailman of the Mushroom Kingdom, Parakarry, was flying down towards them.

"Wow, you're here awfully early," Mario commented as the koopa paratrooper landed in front of them, "and after such a huge snowfall yesterday..."

"Well, neither rain, snow, sleet, or hail can stop me from delivering the mail!" Parakarry responded, giving an almost military-like salute, "Of course, I practically had to take a bath in antifreeze before I set out... But I digress, I have a letter for you two!"

"For both of us?" Luigi repeated.

"Yep! Give me just a second..."

Parakarry dug into his messenger bag and, after pulling out various other packages (presumably Christmas gifts) that didn't appear to be able to physically fit in the bag, eventually handed Luigi a pink envelope.

"Ah, here we go! Another letter duly delivered, a postman's job is never done."

The koopa paratroopa shook off the ice that was already forming on his wings and then flew back up into the air.

"You're leaving already?" Mario asked as Parakarry flew off.

"You bet! I've got a ton of these letters I still have to deliver!"

Once Parakarry was out of sight, Mario turned his attention to Luigi, who was still investigating the letter. Mario promptly snatched it out of his hands and began to open it.

"Hmm... A pink envelope, and Parakarry said he had a bunch more of these to deliver... I bet this is Peach's invitation!"

Mario quickly pulled the letter out of the envelope and began to read it. However, as he was reaching the end, his smile turned into a face of confusion.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Luigi asked.

Mario didn't respond. Instead, he simply handed Luigi the letter so he could read it himself.

_Dear Mario and Luigi,_

_Merry Christmas! I hope you're enjoying the holiday season! I sure am!_

_Normally, I like to throw a holiday party around this time of the month, but instead, I'm trying something a little different this year. You see, there's an orphanage in the poor section of Mushroom City that I visited on a goodwill trip and the kids there were sooooo nice! Since then, I've been wishing there was some way to reach out to them. With Christmas just around the corner, I was thinking about putting on a play for them, and Mario, I want you to be the director! I do hope you consider joining me!_

_Princess Peach_

"A _play_!?" Luigi shouted in disbelief, "She wants us to be in a _play_!? And you to be the director!?"

"Momma mia!" Mario groaned, "Is she crazy? I can't do this! I was expecting a peaceful Christmas season, not a stressful one!"

Mario began pacing back and forward in confusion while Luigi looked over the letter a second time.

"Well... You know..." Luigi mused, "It's for the kids..."

Mario immediately looked back at his bro.

"You're joking, right? You aren't really considering..."

"Come on, Mario! This is for orphans!" Luigi reasoned, "It's the season of giving, right? What else will these poor kids be getting this Christmas? This play might be the only thing they'll recive!"

Mario began to digest what Luigi had just said. Maybe it _was_ a little selfish to not be thinking of the kids, but he didn't know a thing about directing! Regardless, the guilt of _not_ doing it (and the puppy dog eyes that Luigi was currently using) finally made Mario give in.

"Hmph... Fine, I'll do it, but I still don't know what she expects _me_ to do! I mean seriously... Me? A director? Great galloping goombas!"

* * *

While most of the Mushroom Kingdom was in a deep freeze, the Kingdom of Sarasaland was still as hot and dry as ever. Most princesses would probably hate all the sand that made up most of the kingdom, as it tended to get everywhere and dirty everything up, but needless to say, Daisy wasn't a normal princess.

"Just because we don't get any snow doesn't mean I can't go snowboarding!" Daisy told herself as she set her 'sandboard' down, "What's the difference between sand and snow anyway, besides the fact that you can't throw a sandball?"

The tomboy princess got on her board and began a rather intense downhill run off the side of a very huge sandbank. Narrowly dodging a half-dozen palm trees and a few ancient obelisks that existed long before her kingdom was founded, she tried her hardest to get as close to each obstacle as possible without ramming into it. However, she spent so much attention to the obstacles nearby that she didn't look ahead too far, and the next thing she knew, she was flying off the side of a cliff! Did this distress her? Not at all.

"Whoa! Whoops! Heh heh... Oh well, perfect time to do some mid-air tricks!"

And tricks she did. The princess did some aerial stunts that would have made even the most experienced snowboarder jealous. Upon spotting an oasis not far below, Daisy decided, just for the heck of it, to make a water landing. The end result was a huge splash and a very soaked princess.

"Phew! That was awesome!" Daisy cheered to herself as she waded out of the water, carrying her board, "Of course, the royal tailors are gonna throw a fit when they find out I ruined another dress, but it sure was worth it!"

"MAIL CALL!"

Daisy looked up and saw Parakarry swoop down and land right in front of her. Before continuing, he took a deep breath and sighed.

"Ahhh... After being that icebox more commonly known as the Mushroom Kingdom, this desert is soothing to my wings!"

"Hey, Parakarry, what's up?" Daisy greeted.

"Oh, nothing much..." Parakarry replied, "I couldn't find you at the castle, so I figured I'd look for wherever you could get into the most trouble, and sure enough..."

The koopa paratroopa motioned to Daisy's soaked dress.

"Ha, ha... Very funny... So, you got any mail for me?"

"Of course! Here you go! It's from your fellow monarch, Princess Peach!"

"Oh, thanks," Daisy replied, taking the pink envelope that Parakarry handed her, "I just hope it isn't another invite to do something obnoxiously girly... Anyway, thanks for the letter, Parakarry."

"No need to thank me, it's my job! Now, if you'll excuse me..."

As Parakarry flew off to deliver more mail, Daisy opened the envelope and read the letter inside.

_Dear Daisy,_

_Don't worry, this isn't another invitation for a spa trip (do I know you or what?). Rather, I'm inviting you to participate in a little play I'm doing for an orphanage in Mushroom City. The kids there are really nice, and I fear that they might not receive anything for Christmas because they are so poor, so I wanted to give them _some_thing. If you want to help out, please come as soon as you can!_

_Peach_

_P.S. If you do come, I happen to know a very good five-star salon in Mushroom City. Maybe we could go there sometime?_

"Boy, she sure is persistent about this beauty thing..." Daisy commented, "At any rate, this play sounds really intriguing. I suppose I'll go... But I'm staying as _far_ away from her little salon as possible!"

* * *

"_Here we come a wallowing among the leaves so green..._"

"Uh... Wario? I think the correct word is 'wassailing.'"

"Shut up, twig-boy! I'm allowed to sing the dang song any way I wanna! Now, make yourself useful and get me some eggnog!"

Waluigi sighed and left his brother in his 'recording booth' (it was really just a huge aquarium with a microphone in it) while he walked over to the kitchen to grab the holiday drink Wario so desired. By the time he came back, Wario was already working on another song.

"_Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la. Give me your money or I won't stop singing..._"

"You know, I'm starting to think you've lost it..." Waluigi grumbled as he poured himself a glass of eggnog for himself, "I mean, I understand the WarioWare thing, but do you think anyone's really gonna buy _Christmas with Wario_?"

"You bet they are!" Wario snapped back, grabbing the eggnog out of Waluigi's hands and taking a huge swig straight from the carton, "After all, who _doesn't_ want to hear the magnificent voice that is mine?"

"Try anyone who isn't tone deaf!" Waluigi retorted to Wario's hypothetical question, "I mean seriously, you're a worse singer than the dancing penguin in that stupid movie!"

"Hey! Don't you dare dis my professionally recorded album!"

"You gotta be joking... 'Professionally recorded'? You're sitting in a stinkin' fish tank---"

"Recording booth," Wario corrected.

"Fine... You're sitting in a stinkin' 'recording booth' with a stinkin' microphone in the middle of the stikin' living room! You call that professionally recorded!?"

"You know, maybe I do! Maybe I'll start my own recording studio right here, in this living room! How does the name 'WarioWaves' sound?"

Before Waluigi could reply, there was a knock on the front door of Wario's Castle.

"MAIL CALL!"

"Well, hey! The mail's here!" Wario exclaimed, "Quick, Waluigi! You know what to do!"

A sinister smirk appeared on Waluigi's face. Completely ignoring his previous feud with his brother, he ran into the other room and came back with something hiding behind his back.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Waluigi confirmed, giving a thumbs up.

"Right then, heh heh..." Wario chuckled as he opened the door, "Hey there, Parakarry ol' buddy! How's it goin'?"

"Well, um... Pretty good, I guess..." the koopa paratroopa replied, caught a bit off-guard by Wario's niceness, "I have a letter for you and Waluigi."

Parakarry handed Wario a pink envelope and then turned to leave.

"Oh, wait! Parakarry!" Wario shouted, "I've got something I wanna give you!"

"Huh? You do?" Parakarry responded, hovering back down, "You know, you can always leave packages at the post---"

Suddenly, Wario ducked as Waluigi, who was standing right behind him, threw a water balloon right at Parakarry. It hit him square in the face and exploded, spewing water all over him. Since it was so cold outside, the water almost immediately froze, and the koopa paratroopa quickly turned into an ice sculpture!

"Ya know, buddy..." Waluigi began, knocking on the head of the frozen Parakarry, "Being a postman is stressful work. Ya gotta know when to, you know... CHILL OUT! WA HA HA!!!"

With that, the Wario Bros. slammed the door, leaving the iced paratroopa out in the cold. After a few moments, Parakarry managed to break free of his icy prison and flew off with a 'hmph'.

"I sure hope Santa saw that..." Parakarry muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile, inside the castle, Wario was now opening the letter.

"Oh! What's it say!? What's it say!?" Waluigi begged, "Have we been selected to win a million dollars?"

"Eh... No..." Wario grunted, "It's just a stupid letter from Princess Peach. Probably an invitation to another one of her holiday parties."

"She's still inviting us to those things? I thought we were crossed off the list years ago! Hey, remember a couple of years back, when you farted 'Jingle Bells' so loud you..."

"Shut up, I'm trying to read this thing!"

_Dear Wario and Waluigi,_

_While I feel that your... Conduct at my holiday parties has been less than admirable, I still believe that the least I can give you two at Christmas is a second (okay... sixth!) chance._

_Earlier in the year, I visited an orphanage in Mushroom City that was extremely poor, and yet the kids were incredibly nice. I fear that they may be gift-less this Christmas, so I plan on performing a play for them at the orphanage on Christmas Eve. I am hoping that you two will be able to come and help in the presentation. After all, it's the least we can give to these kids who have so little._

_Princess Peach_

"_It's the least we can give to these kids who have so little..._" Wario repeated, mimicking Peach's voice, "Gee, can she get any more pathetic? Is this freakin' community service!? I'm not doing squat unless I get paid!"

"Hey, wait a second..." Waluigi interrupted, pointing at the bottom of the letter, "There's a P.S. you missed..."

_P.S. If you are thinking about not doing it because it's volunteer work, consider this: Don't you think it will encourage people to buy your products if they read in the headlines 'WarioWare CEO Helps Orphans'?_

"Hmm..." Wario pondered, "I help the little brats, I get free publicity, people buy my stuff, and I get more money. It's a little round-about, but it works! Fine, count me in!"

Wario tossed the letter aside and marched out the door, leaving Waluigi behind to look over the letter himself.

"Boy, does she know how to get Wario to do something..."

* * *

Parakarry gulped as he approached the last destination of his mail run: Bowser's Castle. While it was still as dark and dreary as ever, the Koopa King at least attempted to decorate for the holidays... If a wreath made out of dry bones parts and lights that looked like fireballs count as decorations.

"Geez, are these his Christmas decorations, or did he forget to take down his Halloween stuff?" Parakarry asked himself, "Well, no use wondering... I just gotta give him this letter and get outta here!"

Nervously, he knocked on the front door to the castle. Immediately, the welcome mat beneath him dropped open like a trap door, revealing a spike pit below, but since he was hovering, it fortunately had no effect on him. Soon afterwards, a Hammer Bro. opened the door.

"Hey, pal," the Hammer Bro. grunted, "you got somethin' for King Bowser?"

"Um... Yes! Yes I do!" Parakarry replied, handing the guard a pink envelope, "Make sure this gets to him, it's really important!"

"Don't worry, King Bowser _always_ reads his mail," the guard assured, "that way, he knows exactly who he needs to... get rid of... if he gets hate mail."

"Gulp... Right then... Well, I shan't keep you any longer! I'm off!"

The Hammer Bro. watched Parakarry fly off before walking back towards the throne room. Upon entering, he approached Bowser, who was sitting ever-so mightily on his throne, and gave him the letter.

"Here, your majesty. You got a letter. Paratroopa said it was very important."

"Of course it is!" Bowser roared, "Look, it's pink! You know what that means?"

"Um... It's overdue bills?"

"No, you moron! It means it's from Princess Peach! Now get outta here!"

The Hammer Bro. quickly saluted and ran off, nearly bumping into Bowser Jr., who had just entered the room.

"Oh! A letter from Peach?" the young prince inquired, "Open it! Open it!"

"Hold on, son! Give me a second!"

Bowser used a long claw to easily tear open the envelope and reveal the letter inside. Bowser Jr. quickly jumped up onto his dad's shoulder and looked at it as Bowser read it aloud.

_Dear Bowser,_

_Before you get too excited, Bowser, this letter is just an invitation, not a proposal. There is an orphanage in Mushroom City that is very poor, and I feel as if I should give them something for Christmas. Therefore, I am planning on presenting a play for them on Christmas Eve, and, while you may already be scoffing at the idea, I certainly hope that you can come and help us perform it._

_Princess Peach_

_P.S. And unless you _want_ to be able to start a barbeque with your stocking contents, don't even THINK about kidnapping me!_

"Heh heh... Oh, boy... She makes things TOO easy for me!" Bowser laughed, "Sure, Peach, I'll come perform in your silly little play... And then we can have a little party afterwards... At MY castle!"

"But Pops," Bowser Jr. protested, "she said that if you do that, Santa won't get us anything besides coal!"

"Big deal! I'm a king, whatever I want I can get myself! Why would I care what some fat man gives me? Come on, Son, I think it's time I got myself a _real_ Christmas present... Princess Peach! BWA HA HA!!!"


	3. Role Call

"Well, here we are!"

"Um... Luigi? Are you sure this is the place? It looks like a giant warehouse."

"According to the map Peach gave us, this is where the orphanage is. Come on, let's-a go."

Luigi climbed out of the driver's seat of the _Green Fire_ while Mario leaped off the back platform. The building in front of them was pretty much just a huge box right next to a caged-in, concrete playground. Over the front door of the place was a very bland sign that simply said, "Mushroom City Orphanage". As they approached, the front door opened, and none other than Princess Peach herself came out to welcome them.

"Hello, Mario. Hello, Luigi," Peach greeted, "I'm so glad you could make it! We couldn't get very far without you, Mr. Director."

"Yeah, well..." Mario replied, scratching the back of his head, "To be honest, I don't know the first thing about directing!"

"There's a first time for everything, you know!" Peach chuckled, "And now's a good as time as ever to start learning! Now, where are the rest of the 'actors'?"

Peach's answer came when the roaring of a motor began to resonate in the air. Suddenly, a bright orange snowmobile came blasting down the street before coming to a screeching stop right behind Luigi's car... and dumping a huge payload of snow down right on top of it. The snowmobiler then took her helmet off, revealing, to absolutely no one's surprise, that it was Daisy.

"Oh yeah! I _knew_ I'd get to use that thing someday!" Daisy cheered as she dismounted the snowmobile before noticing the giant snowbank that used to be the _Green Fire_, "Oh... Sorry about the car, Luigi."

"Erm... Don't worry about it..." Luigi mumbled as he walked over to get his car out of the snow.

"Hey, Daisy! Glad you could come!" Peach welcomed, giving her fellow monarch a friendly hug, "Making the most extreme entrance as possible, like usual."

"Well, you know me..." Daisy shrugged, "Why take some fancy-shmancy escort when there's always something cooler?"

"Maybe because it makes less of a mess?" Luigi suggested from his car, but no one was really listening.

"Say, Daisy..." Peach began, lifting a few strands of Daisy's hair, "You seem to have a bad case of 'helmet head' here. I happen to know a few people---"

Peach didn't even get a chance to finish before Daisy playfully batted her arm away.

"Nice try, hon, but you aren't gonna trick me like _that_ again! I remember the last time you roped me into one of your little makeovers! I still can't believe you thought I'd look good as a blonde... It took me six hours to wash all that dye out..."

The two princesses were interrupted by the sound of another vehicle approaching. This time, it was a rather flashy, purple limo. It sped down the street before pulling to a stop in front of the orphanage, once again dumping snow all over Luigi's car right as he finished freeing it again. He didn't get a chance to complain before the front door swung open, smacked him in the face, and knocked him to the ground. He got back up onto his feet in time to see Waluigi come out of the driver's seat while Wario came out of the back of the limo.

"Remind me again why I'm your chauffeur now..." Waluigi grumbled to his brother.

"Because _I'm_ a CEO and _you're_ not! That's why!" Wario retorted, "And you did one heck of a job parking! How am I supposed to get past this huge snowbank?"

"That would be my car..." Luigi corrected, but, again, no one was listening.

"Wario?" Mario welcomed, albeit slightly confused, "What are you doing here? Are you in this play, too?"

"Of course! I am the star of this magnificent performance! And I expect 10 royalties on all tickets sold..."

"... Wario, this is a volunteer thing. We're doing this for an _orphanage_. We can't _charge_ them to see the show!"

"Yeah, well, we'll just force them to hand over their valuables so we can pawn them, then! You know, shoes, jackets, the shirts off their backs... OW!!!"

Wario was cut short when a snowball smacked him in the side of his head. He quickly whirled around to see Daisy standing there, tossing another snowball and catching it again in her right hand.

"Keep it up, you insensitive brute, and I'll put a rock in the next one," Daisy warned.

"Grr... Fine, so I'll do it for free!" Wario admitted, "At least I'll get good PR for this."

"Yeah, you need it..." Waluigi mumbled under his breath.

"Um, is there anyone else coming?" Mario asked.

"Yes," Peach replied, "He should get here soon, but you should probably be on your guard."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Mario got his answer when he glanced skyward and saw the all too familiar silhouette of the Koopa Clown Car slowly descending on the orphanage. Luigi, who had just finished cleaning off his car for the second time, also noticed this and quickly realized that, when the copter landed, it would kick up an insane amount of snow and his vehicle was going to be covered... again. Rather than stand by and let it happen, though, he instead stood in front of the _Green Fire_ with his arms outstretched, in a pitiful attempt to protect it. Needless to say, it didn't work. Rather, the aircraft landed, kicked up a ton of snow, and dumped it right on top of the kart _and_ Luigi. The end result was a giant snowbank with another, cross-shaped one right in front of it.

"You asked _Bowser_ to help us?" Mario gasped in disbelief, "Peach, are you crazy? He'll kidnap you again!"

"Relax Mario, it's just like when I invite him to our tennis and golf tournaments. He doesn't try anything funny because you're there."

"Ah... Gotcha. But that reminds me... Make sure you invite him to the next soccer tournament. We didn't last time and he got pretty mad..."

"I'll keep that in mind."

At this point, Bowser climbed out of the Koopa Clown Car and made his way over to the rest of the group.

"Why, Peach, how nice of you to invite me to your little performance..." Bowser thanked with as much politeness as he could muster (which wasn't much), "But why do it here? I'll take you back to my castle and we can perform it... GAH! MARIO!? WHAT'S HE DOIN' HERE!?"

"I warned you, Bowser," Peach responded with a smirk, "don't even think about kidnapping me, especially when the director is right here."

"Him? Director? HA! With him in charge, you'll be lucky if they don't boo you off the stage before it's over!"

"I heard that..." Mario mumbled.

"Good, I was hoping you would."

Suddenly, Bowser Jr.'s small head poked up above the rim of the Koopa Clown Car.

"Hey, Pop! Come on! Grab Peach and let's get outta here!"

"Sorry, son, she's got _Mario_ here to make sure we don't do that," Bowser explained, emphasizing the word 'Mario' like it was a foreign disease, "Just pilot the ship back to the castle and come back later to pick me up, okay?"

"Aw, man! Stupid Mario!... Okay, Pops, I'll get this thing outta here lickity split!"

Bowser Jr. started up the copter and flew it off into the sky, kicking up even more snow and dumping it on the still-buried Luigi. Seeing that his brother was in a bit of a predicament, Mario walked over, made a small fireball in his hand, and used it to melt away all the snow and thaw out Luigi.

"Brr... T... Thanks, M... Mario..." Luigi shivered, "N... Next time, I... I'm finding a p... parking garage."

"Actually, it _is_ getting pretty cold out," Daisy agreed, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm, "but then again, I'm from the desert, so anything below sixty degrees is cold to me."

"Come on, everybody, let's go inside!" Peach invited, "It's a lot warmer in the orphanage!"

The inside of the orphanage was a lot friendlier than the outside. The main hall was filled with dozens of pictures of various children, all presumably residents of the place. On the far end of the hall was a huge wooden cross with the phrase "Jesus Loves the Little Children" etched into the front. Doors on the sides branched off into the other various areas of the orphanage, but the group simply walked straight and entered one of the pairs of double doors on either side of the cross, leading into a huge chapel that doubled as an auditorium. At this point, Luigi realized something was missing from the orphanage.

"Say, Peach..." Luigi questioned, "Where's all the kids? Shouldn't they be in here somewhere?"

"Maybe they all found wonderful, loving families that would take the little brats in!" Waluigi suggested sarcastically, "Oh well, I guess we can't put on a play if no one's here! Let's go!"

The purple-capped plumber turned to leave, but Peach grabbed onto the back of his shirt, holding him in place.

"They're not here because the owner took them all out to the park to play in the snow so we could work on our performance without being interrupted," Peach explained, "Now, then... Mr. Director?"

"Um... Yeah?" Mario answered uneasily.

Peach let go of Waluigi (who went tumbling into a row of pews) and walked onstage while the rest of them followed. Once there, she picked up a pile of scripts that were lying nearby and handed one to each of them.

"Here you go, this is the script of the play we're doing. Mario, your job is to assign everyone their parts while they begin to look the script over."

Mario quickly thumbed through the script and then looked at the title: _The Nativity Story_.

"Hmm... She's, going for a classic, eh?" Luigi concluded, looking over Mario's shoulder.

"I guess so," Mario replied, "say, you wanna help me choose roles?"

"Sure thing, bro!"

Mario opened to the first page where the cast of characters was listed.

"Let's see here... We've got Mary, Joseph, three kings, an innkeeper, shepherds, a choir of angels... Momma mia, I don't think we have enough people to fill all the roles!"

"Don't worry about that, Mario," Peach assured, "I can get a few of my castle attendants to fill out the minor parts. Just focus on the main characters."

"Hey! I know who I wanna be!" Wario shouted, "I wanna be the star! The big head honcho of the play! Numero uno!"

"Um... Wario... The star of the nativity story is Jesus," Luigi reminded, "and he's just a baby."

"So? Maybe Jesus was a _big_ baby! Besides, I fit the role perfectly!"

"Oh really now..." Mario moaned, dreading where this could possibly be going, "And how so?"

"I'm dashingly handsome, incredibly kind (remember that one, losers), and I can turn water into wine!"

"Wait a second, back up... Since when can you turn water into wine?"

"Remember last year's Christmas party?"

"Wario..." Mario sighed in disbelief at his rival, "We caught you trying to spike the punch bowl!"

"Hey, come on! Everyone was over twenty-one! It wasn't like I was doing anything illegal!"

"... For once..." Waluigi added.

"Shut up, stupid."

"Sigh..." Mario groaned, "You and Waluigi can be two of the three kings, okay? You seem to fit the role pretty well."

"Except they were _wise_ men, bro..." Luigi interrupted.

Mario ignored Luigi's comment and walked over to Daisy.

"Hmm... Daisy? I know this is kinda not correct according to the script, but... Could you be the third 'king'? I need someone who can keep those other two in line."

"Sure thing, Mario! Didn't one of the kings come from Egypt, anyway? Sounds like a dead ringer for Sarasaland to me!"

"Great, so we have two kings and one queen! Now, who's left..."

"Don't forget me, bro!"

"Oh, of course! What do you want to be, Luigi?"

"I'll be one of the shepherds," Luigi volunteered, "it can't be that baaa-d of a role! Get it? 'Baaa'-d? Like sheep?"

"I get it, Luigi..." Mario replied, "But with jokes like that, maybe you should be one of the wise _guys_, instead."

Mario then looked over at Peach. He knew the _perfect_ role for her.

"Well, Peach..." Mario began, "I've got everyone except you, me, and Bowser. Do you want to be the Virgin Mary?"

"That's an awfully big role to fill, but I will certainly try!" Peach responded.

"If that's the case, I'm gonna be Joseph!" Bowser declared, putting his arm around Peach's shoulder, "So that would make us husband and wife, isn't that right, Peach?"

"Um... No..." Peach quickly retorted, removing Bowser's hand with disgust, "If I'm going to be Mary, then Mario is going to be Joseph! No questions asked!"

"Why, um... Thank you..." Mario replied warily, "I wasn't aware that I was going to act as well, but..."

"Hey, hey, HEY!!!" Bowser interrupted, "How come you get to hang around with Peach the entire play and I can't? You better have one heck of a role for me that can beat being with Peach!"

"Of course, Bowser," Mario assured, flipping through the script, "Here we go... You can be King Herod."

"Herod?" Wario repeated, "You know, I had herods once. I had to take a bunch of suppositories, and..."

"Not _hemorrhoids_, Wario, _Herod_!" Mario corrected, "King Herod was the ruler who was afraid that Jesus would overthrow him, so he had all the babies in Bethlehem killed!"

"Hmm..." Bowser pondered, "King... Baby killer... Sounds like my kind of role! Okay, I'll do it!"

"Okie dokie then! Everyone has there parts now, correct?" Mario asked.

Everyone else nodded in response.

"Great! Now, look over your scripts and begin memorizing your parts! We'll practice the first scene in two hours!"

Immediately, everyone began rehearsing their parts. After about a minute, though, Wario walked up to Mario, holding his script and having a slightly worried look on his face.

"Say, Mario..." Wario grumbled, "Do ya have the cliff notes for this thing? I don't wanna waste my time memorizing any extra stuff, just the important bits."

Mario just sighed. This was going to be a _long_ day...


	4. Failure to Act

One and a half hours later, there was, truth be told, not much improvement. Sure, Mario, Luigi, and the princesses were memorizing their lines with little difficulty, but for the rest of the actors, it was a different story.

"_We Three Kings have traveled so far, how we wish that we had a car..._"

"Wario, that isn't how the song goes..." Daisy corrected.

"Don't bother, the moron won't listen," Waluigi reminded, "trust me on this one."

Daisy turned to Waluigi to make another remark, but she quickly lost her train of thought when she saw Waluigi's 'costume'.

"Waluigi... Are you wearing a bed sheet?"

"Um... Yeah..."

"Why?"

"Well, the script said the three kings were named Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, so I decided to be Gaspar!"

"And this involves a bed sheet how?..."

"Isn't Gaspar the friendly ghost?"

"That's _Casper_, you idiot!"

"Oh... That explains a lot... And all this time I thought he was, like, the Ghost of Christmas Past or something..."

Likewise, Bowser was having a few issues with his role, except his problem was getting too _into_ character...

"Yo! Luigi! Get your sorry butt over here!" Bowser roared.

"Er... What is it, Bowser?" Luigi asked, slightly confused.

"I command that you rub my feet!"

"Why would I want to do that!?"

"Because _I'm_ a king and _you're_ just a lowly shepherd, that's why!"

"... Um, how about no?"

Luigi had to dive out of the way as Bowser belched a huge ball of flame at him.

"I'M THE KING IN THIS PLAY AND YOU WILL DO AS I SAY!!! GOT IT!?"

"Wah! Mario!" Luigi cried, running away, "Bowser's lost his mind!"

"Sigh... Momma mia..." Mario groaned, looking up from his script, "Looks like things are getting a bit out of hand... Peach, maybe we should get the set out and start doing run-throughs of the scenes?"

"That sounds like a good idea, Mario," Peach agreed, pointing off-stage, "I think the prop and costume closet is over there."

Mario thanked her and walked off to see what the orphanage had in the way of sets. However, when he opened the closet, all hopes of anything decent quickly faded away. There was a 'throne' (supposedly Herod's), a 'manger', the Wise Men's gifts, and a chintzy wooden frame that apparently served as the stable, but absolutely nothing else in the prop department. Furthermore, the costumes, if they were even available, were all kid sizes and way too small for anyone to wear.

"Um... Peach..." Mario called out, "We have a problem..."

"What is it, Mario?"

"Let's just say that we'll have to either all eat a Mini Mushroom if we want to fit into these costumes or just perform in our street clothes."

Peach walked over to Mario and quickly saw what he was talking about.

"Oh dear, they didn't tell me about this..." Peach recalled, "I guess we'll have to do a little costume shopping! What do you say, Mr. Director?"

"Hmm... I guess that's what we'll have to do. Hey, Luigi!"

"Yeah, bro?" Luigi replied, running up to Mario (and away from Bowser).

"Me and Peach are gonna do a little 'last-minute shopping'. Can you be in charge will we're out?"

"Sure thing, bro! You can count on me!"

"Great! Just get them started on rehearsing the scenes together until we get back."

"Gotcha! Okay, everyone, listen up!" Luigi shouted, walking back up to the stage, "I'm in charge for the time being, okay?"

"Why on earth would we wanna listen to _you_?" Wario grumbled, "Somebody get my agent on the phone! Listening to greenie here wasn't part of my contract!"

"Oh boy..." Mario sighed, "Come on, Peach, let's-a go."

* * *

"So, Peach, do you know what the best thing about shopping for costumes during the Christmas season is?"

Peach glanced up at the very skinny, but tall shelf in the back corner of the department store that was loaded with leftover Halloween costumes.

"I have a feeling that you are about to tell me..."

"They're really, really cheap," Mario answered, showing Peach the '75 off!' sign.

"Well, it's always good to be economical, I suppose... So, are there any good costumes?"

Mario began shifting through the huge pile of clothing, tossing aside costumes they had absolutely no need for (such as the 'Kikori Tunic' and the 'Power Suit') in an effort to find what they were searching for.

"Hey! Check this out!" Mario cheered, holding up one of the costumes, "This one's called 'Asian Ruler'! One of the Three Kings was from Asia, right?"

"I believe so," Peach replied, "And I think one was from Babylon, and the last was from Africa somewhere, presumably Egypt."

"And Daisy said she'd be the Egyptian 'King'..." Mario continued, "Egyptian costumes are pretty popular, so there's gotta be one or two left over..."

Mario continued his search, while Peach also began to help. Mario's hypothesis was right, as he quickly found an 'Egyptian Princess' costume. Peach also had no trouble finding a 'Babylonian King' costume, but things quickly grinded to a halt after finding the kings' costumes.

"Um... I guess no one wanted to be a shepherd for Halloween..." Mario surmised, looking at the now completely empty shelf (all the other costumes were sprawled across the floor), "Or Joseph... Or the Virgin Mary..."

"At least those costumes should be easy to make by hand," Peach reasoned, "If we can just find the materials, then my tailors can make them, no problem."

"Yeah... But first, we better put all these costumes back!"

As the duo began to put away all the outfits, Peach began to make a little small talk.

"So, Mario, what do you want for Christmas?"

"Hmm? Oh, I dunno... I'm always so busy worrying about what to get other people, I tend to forget about what _I_ want... What about you?"

"Well, being a princess means that I pretty much have everything anyone could ask for, so my Christmas lists tend to have little... material things on them."

Suddenly, Mario's cell phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and noticed that the caller was Luigi.

"Uh, oh... It's Luigi. This can't be good..." Mario mumbled as he answered the phone, "Bro? What's up?"

"Mario! You gotta get back here now! I can't keep things under control! I... YIKES!!! WARIO! DON'T PUT THE SUBWOOFER ON MAXIMUM! YOU'RE GONNA BRING THE WHOLE BUILDING DOWN!... Uh... Look, Mario, I gotta go. Try to get back as soon as possible, okay!?"

"Gotcha, Bro!"

Mario quickly put his phone away and began to run off.

"Mario!" Peach called out, "Where are you going? We've got to..."

"You can take care of things yourself here, right?" Mario assured.

"Um... I guess so..."

"Good. Grab the rest of the costumes, materials, and props we need. I have to go back to the orphanage and make sure it's still standing!"

* * *

"Heh, heh... I guess I kinda overdid the subwoofer, huh?"

Mario was glaring daggers at Wario, who was standing ever-so-innocently (yeah, right) next to the sound box. Meanwhile the entire chapel floor was covered in plaster chips that fell down from the ceiling, and the chandelier hanging high above the sanctuary looked like it was going to drop at any moment.

"'Kinda'? Wario, you nearly brought down the house! Literally!" Mario shouted, "And since when were you in charge of the tech crew?"

"Um... That one was sorta my fault, bro..." Luigi admitted, "He _said_ he knew what he was doing..."

"And you believed him? Luigi..." Mario groaned, burying his face in his hands, "All right, did you make any other brilliant position appointments?"

"Not that I know of, but then again, my memory's kinda fuzzy after that huge chunk of plaster fell on my head..."

"Say," Daisy interrupted, "didn't you assign Waluigi to be in charge of the lights?"

Almost as if on cue, all the lights in the orphanage went out, a huge, blue, electrical spark blasted down from up in the rafters above the stage, and a very high-pitched scream resonated throughout the room.

"HOLY 'SROOM!!! I CAN FREAKIN' SEE MY SKELETON!!!"

"Oh yeah... I did put Waluigi in charge of the lighting..." Luigi remembered.

After a few flickers, the lights came back on and a fried, twitching Waluigi slowly made his way onto the stage. He gave everyone a thumbs-up, which had a small trail of smoke rising from it.

"Yep... I got the lights set up... I managed to jam that 1,000 watt bulb into the 60 watt socket... We're gonna have the brightest Christmas Star ever..."

After saying this, he promptly passed out on center stage, still smoking like an overcooked turkey.

"Hey, that makes my screw-up over here in the sound department not seem so bad, right?" Wario asked.

"No, it doesn't..." Mario grunted as a reply, "Say, where's Bowser?"

"You don't wanna know..." was all Luigi could say.

"I SURE AS HECK BET HE DOES!" came a roar from the prop closet.

The closet door swung open, and a very cranky-looking Bowser came storming out. He was wearing a pitiful, cardboard 'crown', had a red blanket tied around his neck like a cape, and was holding a rinky-dinky little scepter in his right hand.

"What's the matter Bowser?" Mario moaned, "Upset that the orphanage doesn't have any 'real' props for 'your kingship'?"

"No, although that _is_ rather annoying..." Bowser countered, "The problem is that whoever played King Herod last was about the size of a Goomba!"

Bowser turned around to reveal that, on his backside, the small 'throne' that Mario saw in the prop closet the first time was now impaled on one of his spikes, splintered beyond any hope of serving as a prop anymore.

"That one wasn't my fault, by the way," Luigi assured, "He tried those props all on his own."

"Luigi, you were supposed to keep things under control while I was out!" Mario shouted, quickly losing whatever patience he had left, "Not let everything go completely bonkers! I was having enough trouble trying to direct this play before!"

"I'm sorry, bro..." Luigi whimpered, "I tried, and Daisy even helped me a bit, but..."

Mario quickly grabbed one of the scripts lying around and walked up on stage before Luigi could finish explaining himself.

"Okay, everyone, listen up!" Mario hollered, getting everyone's attention (except Waluigi's, who was still unconscious), "I know my brother kind of screwed things up while I was out, but let's try to get things under control right away! We'll start practicing some of the scenes right away, alright? Places everyone!"

Slowly, everyone began gathering their composure and made their way up onto the stage. Meanwhile, Mario went back into the prop closet and brought out the Three Kings' gifts.

"I know that one king's kinda... Out of commission," Mario began, glancing over at Waluigi, "but I think we can still practice the 'Herod meets the Three Kings' scene without him, how's that sound?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Daisy agreed, "Come on, Wario get up here."

"Hmm? Me? But I wanna see what happens if I turn up the subwoofer _and_ the bass!"

"NOW, WARIO!" Mario demanded.

"Geez, alright! Don't get your underwear in a knot..."

As Wario got up on stage, Mario handed Daisy a 'bottle' of 'perfume'.

"These are the Three King's gifts," Mario explained as he handed Wario a sack of 'gold', "Frankincense, gold, and myrrh."

"Hey, how come Daisy gets to have the undead guy?" Wario asked.

"Huh?... What are you..."

"You gave her the Frankenstein!"

"It's Frankin_cense_, Wario!... Sigh... Never mind, just take your place and start the scene."

Mario and Luigi climbed off the stage and sat in the front row as they began practicing. Bowser was standing on the left side of the stage while Daisy and Wario (dragging Waluigi's body) came in from the right.

"So..." Bowser began, reading unenthusiastically from the script, "I heard that you three are following a star that supposedly leads to the Messiah."

"That is very true," Daisy replied (without relying on the script), "We have traveled from far and wide following the star, for we wish to find the newborn king and give him our gifts. Frankincense..."

"... Gold..." Wario continued, "... Um... Your cue, Waluigi..."

Naturally enough, Waluigi didn't make any sort of reply, since he was still out like a light. Undaunted, Wario decided to take over for his 'fallen comrade' by taking his gift and reciting his line.

"... And myrrh," he concluded, holding up the box of myrrh high in the air, "... Say, wait a second... Is this real spice inside?"

Wario opened the box and quickly grabbed a handful of spice inside. Inspecting it for a moment, he shoved the entire fistful into his mouth. Almost immediately, his face turned a bright shade of red, steam poured out his ears, and, without warning, he belched a huge fireball out of his mouth... right into Bowser's face.

"Wow... That _was_ spicy..." Wario panted.

"HEY! HOW DARE YOU BELCH FIRE INTO THE FACE OF YOUR KING!!!" Bower screamed, "I'LL TEACH YOU!!!"

The Koopa King threw himself on top of Wario, and the two began duking it out on center stage, kicking up a huge fight cloud.

"Hey, you two! Knock it out!" Mario hollered, "Cut! Cut! CUT!"

Eventually, the dust settled. Wario and Bowser were both on the floor, panting in exhaustion. Whatever remained of the meager props were completely destroyed and the entire middle of the stage was now caved in from the weight.

"Um... Heh, heh..." Luigi tried to laugh, "That was an... interesting take, right? Mario?"

Mario didn't reply. This was the last straw. He threw the script down with disgust and began to walk out the door. On his way out, he bumped into Peach, who had just returned from the department store with all the costumes.

"Oh, hey, Mario!" Peach greeted, "I got all the costumes and props... for the... Is something wrong, Mario?"

"You're on your own with this now..." Mario mumbled, "I've had enough. I'm going home and enjoying a _peaceful_ Christmas."

The plumber didn't wait for Peach to respond before he turned and left. Confused, the Princess looked at everyone else on stage. Daisy was pointing an accusing finger to Bowser, Bowser was pointing a finger to Wario, and he was pointing at Luigi.

"Uh... Look, I'll go after him," Luigi volunteered, "I think I should be the one to talk some sense into him, since this _was_ all kinda my fault..."

Luigi quickly got up and ran out the door after his brother. After he left, Waluigi finally began to come back to reality.

"Ugh... Ow... That smarts..." Waluigi grunted, "... So, what I miss?"

No one replied. They were all looking out the door where Mario had left.


	5. Priority Check

_I'll be home for Christmas,  
You can count on me.  
Please have snow and mistletoe  
And presents under the tree.  
Christmas Eve will find me,  
Where the love light gleams.  
I'll be home for Christmas,  
If only in my dreams._

Luigi could hear the Christmas music playing as soon as he entered Mario's house. After about a minute of searching, he soon found his brother, sitting in the same easy chair he was before, holding a glass of eggnog in his right hand. Judging by the expression on his face, he was still pretty burnt up by what happened earlier.

"Hey! Mario! There you are! Look, I'm sorry that I..."

Mario grabbed the remote control for the stereo system and cranked up the music, attempting to drown out Luigi's voice. Luigi retaliated by simply walking over to the stereo and pulling the plug.

"Okay, now look here, Mario, I know you probably still hate me for screwing everything up, but you can't just try to ignore me. I'm your brother, for crying out loud!"

"I don't hate _you_, Luigi..." Mario grumbled, "I'm just mad at myself."

"Yourself? Why?"

"Why? _Why_!? Luigi, you darn well know why!" Mario retorted as he got up and began to pace around the room, "Didn't I say from the start I would be a lousy director? I tried to avoid doing it, but everyone roped me in, telling me I would be good! And you know what? A funny thing happened... _I_ screwed everything up! None of it is your fault, Luigi. If I wasn't 'in charge', I wouldn't have asked you to take over for a half-an-hour to begin with!"

Apparently tired from his five minute rant, Mario slumped back into the easy chair and leaned his head back.

"I just wanted a tranquil holiday season... Why can't everyone just leave me alone?"

Luigi tried to respond, but he just couldn't come up with the right words. Instead, he went back over to the stereo system and plugged it back in. Looking at the back of the CD case, Luigi quickly skipped to the track he was looking for.

"You know what, bro?" Luigi replied, stopping on the track he wanted, "I think you've been listening to the wrong songs on this thing."

_It was almost Christmas time, there I stood in another line  
Tryin' to buy that last gift or two, not really in the Christmas mood  
Standing right in front of me was a little boy waiting anxiously  
Pacing 'round like little boys do  
And in his hands he held a pair of shoes _

His clothes were worn and old, he was dirty from head to toe  
And when it came his time to pay  
I couldn't believe what I heard him say

"Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please  
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size  
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time  
You see she's been sick for quite a while  
And I know these shoes would make her smile  
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight"

As the chorus came to the end for the first time, Luigi turned back to Mario. The red-capped plumber was shifting around in his chair a bit, looking down at the floor. It didn't take much for Luigi to figure out that Mario was starting to feel a bit guilty.

"I... I think I know the point you're trying to make, Luigi..." Mario mumbled almost inaudibly.

Luigi decided not to reply and let the rest of the song to the talking.

_He counted pennies for what seemed like years  
Then the cashier said, "Son, there's not enough here"  
He searched his pockets frantically  
Then he turned and he looked at me  
He said "Mama made Christmas good at our house Though most years she just did without  
Tell me Sir, what am I going to do,  
Somehow I've got to buy her these Christmas shoes" _

So I laid the money down, I just had to help him out  
I'll never forget the look on his face when he said  
"Mama's gonna look so great"

_I knew I'd caught a glimpse of heaven's love  
As he thanked me and ran out  
I knew that God had sent that little boy  
To remind me just what Christmas is all about_

As the song ended, Luigi quietly turned the stereo off, walked over, and sat down on the sofa adjacent to Mario's easy chair.

"Mario... The kids in the orphanage don't have much," Luigi explained, "no money or toys or even a home... All things we take for granted. But I do know one thing they have: hope. You thought Peach wanted you to put on the theatrical performance of the century, didn't you?"

Mario nodded, still staring at the floor.

"That's what I thought... No wonder you were so stressed! She wasn't expecting a Broadway musical from you, just something to remind the kids of what they have! This isn't about fancy costumes, complex sets, or, heck, even perfectly recited lines. It's about hope, about what was given to us on that first Christmas that would bring salvation to the world. If we can convey that message to those children, who cares how well the play is produced?"

Luigi paused for a moment when he noticed that Mario now had his face buried in his hands, letting out the occasional sob.

"Um... Mario? Are you _crying_?" Luigi inquired, "Momma mia, I wasn't _that_ sappy, was I?"

Upon realizing that Luigi was talking to him again, Mario quickly regained his composure and sat up straight, pretending that what Luigi witnessed never happened.

"C... Crying? O... Of course not!" Mario denied, grinning slightly, "Real men don't cry!... But, answering your second question, yes, your speech _was_, indeed, sappy. Then again, what can I expect from my little bro?"

Luigi smiled. The Mario he knew was back.

"So, you wanna give that play another shot?"

Mario stared blankly at him for a moment, and then flashed a grin and gave him his classic 'V for Victory' sign.

"You bet! I'm-a not gonna let something like horrible acting on the Wario Bros. part ruin Christmas for those orphans! Let's-a go!"

* * *

And so, marching with just as much valiance as if he was heading out to save Peach from Bowser for the umpteenth time, Mario headed out the door, ready to take on the role of 'Mr. Director' once more.

"Um... Peach?" Daisy began as she came out of the dressing room in her 'Egyptian Princess' costume, "I'm pretty sure one of the Three Kings was _not_ Cleopatra..."

"Sorry," Peach apologized, "it was the best I could find. Well, Mario found it, actually, but..."

"Hey, why are _you_ complaining?" Wario asked, balancing his scepter on his finger "We got the best costumes in the play! At least you don't have to run around in a potato sack for the entire thing!"

"Wario, we've been over this..." Peach moaned, looking down at her own costume, "It's a sackcloth... All the ordinary people of the time wore them."

"Gee, ordinary people musta had _bad_ fashion sense back then!" Waluigi countered, "And trust me, when _I_ realize something has bad taste, that's saying something!"

"About the clothing or about you?" Daisy asked rhetorically.

"About the clothing, you... HEY! WAIT A SECOND! WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING!?"

"Nothing you didn't bring on yourself, twig-boy," Bowser growled, slightly peeved that he himself didn't get anything in the way of a costume.

"So anyway, why don't we move on to actually doing a scene, hmm?" Daisy suggested, "What do you want to do, Peach?"

Peach grabbed one of the scripts and began to page through it.

"Well, let's see here... We've already tired the 'King Herod meets the Three Kings' scene..."

"Emphasis on the word 'tried'..." Wario added.

Peach shot him a glare before continuing.

"I guess we should do some of my scenes next, then. The only problem is, we're kind of... Joseph-less at the moment..."

"You rang?"

The whole cast whirled around towards the front of the chapel and saw the Mario Bros. standing in the doorway!

"MARIO!!!" Everyone shouted in unison, "YOU'RE BACK!!!"

"Yep!" Mario said, "Luigi gave me a little prep talk, so now I'm ready to give this director thing another go-around!"

"Well then..." Peach replied, handing the red-capped plumber a script, "Welcome back, Mr. Director!"


	6. Gift Exchange

It had been a week Mario got back into the director's chair and things had been going pretty smoothly. Peach had really come through with the costumes and props more than anyone had expected, so the play _was_ going to have some pretty decent production values (even though Mario wasn't worried about that anymore). Luigi also got better at being Mario's right-hand man on the job, keeping tabs on things (namely Bowser) while Mario was busy elsewhere. In fact, even the Wario Bros. got their act together. As the days passed, Mario began to get more and more confidence that he could pull this off.

Finally, it was the morning of December 24, Christmas Eve. This was the day they were going to perform the play in front of the entire orphanage! Having grown accustomed to Luigi's early wake-up calls, Mario woke up at around seven, quite glad that his brother had stopped using the radio alarm clock to get him out of bed (he was starting to grow quite sick of the Christmas carols the radio station insisted on playing over and over). Walking into the kitchen, Mario spotted Luigi wrapping up a few final gifts.

"Hey Luigi," Mario greeted, "today's the day, huh?"

"Yep," Luigi replied, tying a bow on one of the boxes, "all between us and this performance is a five hour practice and a three hour Christmas party!"

"Christmas party?" Mario repeated in slight confusion.

Luigi looked up from his gift-wrapping.

"Peach didn't tell you?"

"Apparently not... What's this party about, now?"

"Tonight, before we put on the play, we're gonna have a 'Wrap Party' of sorts and give each other our Christmas gifts!"

Suddenly, Mario's eyes got as big as saucers.

"CHRISTMAS GIFTS!?" Mario screamed, "GREAT GALLOPING GOOMBAS! I'VE BEEN SO BUSY DIRECTING THIS PLAY, I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT BUYING GIFTS!!!"

"Um... You better think of something _fast_..." Luigi suggested, looking at the clock on the wall, "You've got five hours until practice starts, and after that, there is _no_ way Peach is gonna let you leave to go shopping! And the party is right after practice!"

By the time Luigi looked back at Mario, he was already running out the door.

* * *

Mario blasted down the road in his own kart, the _Red Fire_, franticly trying to get to Mushroom City as fast as possible. How could he have possibly forgotten to buy everyone gifts? Well, there was no time to worry about that now. He _had_ to find gifts for everyone, and he had to find them _fast_!

By now, he had reached the Mushroom City shopping district. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who 'forgot': virtually hundreds of people were still crowding the streets, trying to find that last-minute gift. After eventually finding a parking space (it took him about half and hour), Mario climbed out of his car and ran into the first store he could find: A toy store.

"Okay, gotta find something quick..." Mario said to himself, "Is there anything in here that someone would want?"

Not watching where he was going, Mario bumped into something that, a few moments later, bumped him back. Whirling around, Mario quickly came face-to-face with... Himself! Actually, it was a 'life-sized' Mario punching bag.

"Huh? Oh joy..." Mario muttered sarcastically, "It appears that I have been forever immortalized in an object that one routinely beats the snot out of... Well, actually..."

Thinking for a moment, Mario grabbed two of the punching bags on a shelf nearby and brought them over to the cash register where, thankfully, there wasn't that long of a line. A few minutes later, Mario walked out of the toy store, bag in hand.

"Well, that took care of both Bowser _and_ the Wario Bros.! Now all that's left is Luigi and the princesses!"

Looking around, Mario spotted a sporting goods store. Remembering how athletic Daisy was, he walked inside, hoping to find something she would like.

"Hmm... Let's see here..." Mario began, running up and down the various aisles, "What extreme sports equipment _doesn't_ Daisy have? Geez, it's always hard to buy gifts for a princess..."

Suddenly, something caught Mario's eye. On one of the shelves was a box labeled 'Extreme Gear'. Inspecting it, Mario noticed that it was some sort of hoverboard!

"Hey, now, this seems right up Daisy's alley!" Mario declared, placing the box under his arm, "I better get this rung up!"

And so he did. However, he was in for quite a surprise when the cashier scanned the bar code.

"Okay, one Extreme Gear board..." the female toad began, "... That will be six hundred coins."

"SIX HUNDRED COINS!?" Mario shouted in disbelief, "Momma mia, that's really expensive!"

"Well, it's an import," she explained, "this was specially shipped to us from outside the kingdom."

"A foreign county, huh? Which one?"

"I dunno, I just work here. Although, whenever their shippers deliver things here, I feel like I'm in a crossover or something..."

Mario looked towards the 'fourth wall' for a moment before deciding to just drop the subject.

"Well, I don't have time to argue... Here," Mario said, giving the cashier his credit card, "you do gift-wrapping, right?"

A few minutes later, Mario was walking out of the store, carrying his huge, wrapped gift.

"Oph! Dang, this thing's heavy... Oh well, four down, two to go! I gotta find something for Luigi next!"

After returning to his car to put away the gifts he already brought, Mario began trying to figure out what his brother would want.

"Think, think... What would Luigi want? He likes all that techy stuff, but I have no clue what he's already got!"

Mario's confidence wasn't increased any when he walked into the electronics store. It was full of TVs, computers, cameras, and many other things, but nothing clearly stood out for the plumber. Scratching his head in confusion, he casually glanced at his watch... and suddenly realized that it was already eleven o'clock! He only had an hour until practice!

"Eek! Oh man... Sorry, Luigi, but I'm running out of time!"

Mario grabbed a gift card and had it loaded with two hundred coins. Sure, Mario always felt that gift cards were a bit of a cop-out, but he knew that any attempts to buy Luigi something he knew absolutely nothing about could only end in disaster. Satisfied, Mario ran out of the store and placed the gift card in his car with the rest of the gifts. However, he found himself stumped with the last gift: Peach's.

"Great... Peach... At least Daisy had the obvious like of sports, but Peach... What can I get someone who already has everything?"

Mario pondered for a long while before he remembered what Peach had told him before, when they were costume shopping.

"_So, Mario, what do you want for Christmas?"_

"_Hmm? Oh, I dunno... I'm always so busy worrying about what to get other people, I tend to forget about what I want... What about you?"_

"_Well, being a princess means that I pretty much have everything anyone could ask for, so my Christmas lists tend to have little... material things on them."_

"She doesn't like material things..." Mario recalled, "She has her sights on... Something more... I know exactly what to get her."

* * *

"Where's Mario?" Peach asked Luigi, who was looking out the front door nervously, "Practice starts in five minutes!"

"I dunno..." Luigi replied, "He said he had to do a little last-minute shopping when he left. I guess he _really_ wants to cut it close!"

"So, if he doesn't get here in time," Bowser began, "can I be 'Mr. Director'?"

"If you were director, you would single-handedly undo everything Mario did in the past week in five minutes!" Daisy retorted.

"That's not true!" Waluigi countered, "It would take _Wario_ five minutes to undo everything!"

"Thanks..." Wario grumbled.

"You're welcome."

"That was sarcasm, you idiot."

"I know, but I like annoying you."

As the Wario Bros. were bickering, Luigi suddenly started jumping up and down, pointing out the door.

"Ah! There he is! It's Mario!" Luigi cheered.

Sure enough, one could see Mario pull the _Red Fire_ up next to the orphanage. As he got out, he went to the back and pulled out a huge bag full of the gifts he had gotten earlier.

"Ho, ho, ho!" Mario greeted, "Sorry I'm... _almost_ late, guys. _Some_one forgot to inform me we had a party after practice today."

"You never asked..." Luigi mumbled, trying to defend himself.

"Well, now that you're here, we can begin!" Peach declared, "What are you waiting for, Mr. Director?"

"Heh, heh, you got it, Peach!" Mario replied, "Okay, places, everyone! We're doing an entire run-through! Let's-a go!"

* * *

"And cut! That's a wrap! Good job everyone!"

"Finally!" Wario sighed, "Can we eat now?"

"He sure has a one-track mind, doesn't he?" Luigi rhetorically asked.

"Better not keep him in suspense then," Peach suggested, "Come on, everyone, let's party!"

And party they did. Peach had already set up a buffet table backstage, so everyone was able to quickly rush in and chow down.

"Yo! Move it!" Bowser demanded, "Royalty goes first!

"Why, thank you, Bowser," Daisy commended as she walked past him, "you are quite the gentleman."

"Huh? What the?... HEY! WAIT A SECOND! I WAS TALKIN' ABOUT _ME_, NOT YOU! GET BACK HERE!"

However, while Bowser was busy arguing, everyone made their way past him without him noticing, leaving him _last_ in line by the time he was done.

"Word of advice, Bowser:" Luigi suggested, holding up his plate of food, "Spend less time talking and more time doing. You get more things done that way."

"Don't make me torch you, Greene."

Meanwhile, Mario was making his way over to the drinks section of the table and noticed Wario standing mischievously near the punch bowl.

"Wario, you better not be doing what I think you're doing..." Mario warned.

"It depends..." Wario answered in mock innocence, "What do you think I'm doing?"

Mario reached over, stuck his hand in Wario's pocket, and promptly pulled out a liquor bottle.

"Old habits die hard, eh?" Mario teased, motioning towards the punch bowl with the bottle.

"Um... Well... Uh... No one's under 21!"

"We're in an _orphanage_, Wario! Everyone _except_ us is under 21!"

"Oh... Yeah..."

Sighing in disbelief, Mario threw the bottle of liquor into the trash. From that point on, thankfully, the party went along smoothly. After all the feasting had been done, it was time for the gift exchange!

"Alright, then, who want's to start?" Peach asked as everyone sat around with their gifts close by.

"We'll go first!" Wario and Waluigi volunteered, "Here ya go, everyone! Merry Christmas!"

The Wario Bros. handed out their gifts to everyone. As the rest of the group opened them, they discovered they all received the same thing: an autographed picture of Wario.

"Gee... Thanks..." Luigi mumbled, "Don't kill yourselves trying to find the perfect gift..."

"What?" Wario grunted, "We're lazy and it's cheap. Give us a break already, geez..."

"Right then..." Peach murmured, "Who's next?"

"Heh, heh... I'll go!" Bowser spoke up, "Here! Take 'em already!"

"Careful..." Mario warned, "Make sure none of them are ticking..."

After 'checking' to make sure it wasn't a bomb, Mario opened his gift and found that it was a 1-Up 'shroom.

"I figured the least I could give ya is a second chance if, ya know, I actually _succeed_ in killin' ya for once..." Bowser admitted.

Luigi opened his gift to discover that it was a Jack-in-the-Box. Curious, Luigi turned the crank until...

"WAHHH!!!" Luigi screamed as a giant (fake) Boo popped out of the box, "SOMEBODY SAVE ME!!!"

"Ha ha ha! What a wimp!" Bowser laughed, "I _knew_ you'd fall for that one!"

Wario and Waluigi began fighting over who would get to open their gift before Wario eventually emerged the victor. Feeling triumphant, Wario tore the wrapping paper off only to discover another layer of wrapping paper, which he also ripped off, which revealed _another_ layer. This continued for about ten layers until Wario eventually go to their gift: a single gold coin.

"YAHOO!!!" Wario cheered, holding up the coin for all to see, "IT'S MONEY!!! I'M RICH!!! FILTHY, STINKIN' RICH!!!"

"And stupid..." Daisy mumbled. However, she didn't have much time to mock them, as she got her present from Bowser next, which appeared to be... _moving_...

"Um... Bowser? Did you give me something _alive_!?"

"Stop asking questions and open it already!"

Daisy obeyed, and soon became the proud owner of her very own potted Piranha Plant.

"It's because you're named after a flower, right?" Bowser explained, "Because of that, I gave you one of _my_ flowers! Clever, no?"

"Uh... That would definitely be a 'no'..."

Finally, it was Peach who got the last gift from Bowser, and she was clearly afraid of what it was even before she opened it.

"Oh dear... This looks like a ring box... Bowser, you didn't..."

"WOULD EVERYONE STOP ASKING ME QUESTIONS AND JUST OPEN THE PRESENTS THEMSELVES!?!?"

Nervously, Peach unwrapped her gift and realized, much to her dismay, that it _was_ a ring box. She opened the box and saw... a locket? She opened the locket and saw a small picture inside of her and Bowser from the time he kidnapped her on Isle Delfino.

"You remember our vacation together, don't you?" Bowser cooed.

He didn't get a chance to say any more before he suddenly leaped into the air, screaming in pain! Behind him, Daisy had carefully placed the Piranha Plant so that it was now chomping on his tail!

"I beat him up so you don't have to," Daisy shrugged, petting her flower on the top of its head, "Can I go next?"

"Um... Sure, Daisy! Go right ahead!"

Daisy then gave out her gifts: Skateboards for Mario and Luigi ("In case you guys wanna start another one of your sporting competitions"), rollerblades for Peach, a (spiked) shot-put ball for Bowser, and gym membership cards for Wario and Waluigi.

"Hey! Wait a dang second here!" Wario interrupted, "Are you saying I'm fat!?"

"Yes..." Daisy dead-panned.

"Um... Oh... Give me a moment to think up a come-back..."

"How about not?" Luigi suggested, "I'll go next, everyone!"

His first present was to Mario: A Poltergust 3000.

"That way, you can protect yourself from Boos without my help, bro!" Luigi explained.

"Hey, thanks! This would've come in handy in Hotel Delfino..."

His next gift was to Bowser: _The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Domination_.

"That book _is_ supposed to be a joke, right?" Mario whispered to his brother.

"Yep," Luigi assured, "I just wanna see if he actually _tries_ anything that book suggests..."

He gave the Wario Bros. a Gameboy Horror next, followed by lovely bouquet of daisies to (surprise, surprise) Daisy. Finally, he gave Peach what looked like just a letter.

"Huh? What's this?" Peach asked.

"It's an official notice saying that your castle will have an advanced security system installed! I figured with all the times Bowser tries to kidnap you, it would come in handy!"

"Very thoughtful, Luigi. I appreciate it. Now, I guess it's my turn!"

First, she handed an envelope to Daisy. The other princess opened it and looked at the two gift cards that fell out.

"The first one says 'Good for one (1) makeover at the Mushroom City Salon'..." Daisy read, "And the second... 'Good for one (1) deluxe spa treatment at the Poshley Heights Spa'..."

"Hmm... It would be a shame for those to go to waste..." Peach hinted, "Maybe we could go together sometime..."

"Peach... You really aren't gonna let up on me, are ya?"

"Not a chance!" Peach playfully teased.

Next, she gave the Wario Bros. a book on table manners. Wario began to thumb through the book and almost had a coronary when he read one of the pages.

"What the heck!? 'It is normally considered impolite to burp or pass gas at the table'!? What is this, some kind of dictatorship!? I can do whatever the heck I want, dang it! It's a free county! I have my rights!"

"Sigh... It's hopeless..." Peach moaned.

She gave Luigi GPS software for his Gameboy Horror (he always claimed he got disoriented whenever he came out of a warp pipe) and Bowser a 'family-sized' package of breath mints ("Your always smells like smoke..."). She was about to hand Mario his gift, but she stopped at the last moment.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Mario asked.

"Why don't you give out _your_ gifts first?" Peach suggested, "I... Want to save my gift to you for last."

"Oh... Okie-dokie!"

Mario then handed out all his gifts. Luigi didn't mind the gift card at all, both Bowser and the Wario Bros. got a kick (both figuratively and literally) out of their gifts, and Daisy probably would have immediately ran outside and try out her gift if Peach hadn't stopped her. Finally, Mario handed his gift to Peach. In turn, she gave him her gift.

"So... Uh... Wanna open them together?" Mario asked.

"Of course, Mario," Peach replied.

The plumber and the princess opened each other's gifts and, much to their surprise, they discovered that they had given each other the exact same thing: a mistletoe. Both of them immediately began blushing, and the others (even Bowser) fell silent. Well, except for Wario...

"EW!" Wario shrieked, running out of the room, "This is gonna be gross! I'm leaving!"

Mario and Peach simply ignored him and looked at each other longingly in the eyes.

"So..." Peach began, holding her mistletoe above the two of them, "Do you want to..."

Mario held his mistletoe up as well.

"Merry Christmas, Peach..."

They both closed their eyes, leaned in close, and...

"Hey, I hate to interrupt you two lovebirds..." Luigi butted in, "But I think I hear the kids coming!"

The moment lost, Mario and Peach quickly came back to reality. Sure enough, one could clearly hear kids filing into the chapel and getting seated. The play was about to begin!

"Momma mia!" Mario shouted, "Um... Sorry, Peach... Maybe some other time..."

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Director. Right now, we've got a play to put on!"

"Right! Quick, everyone! Get to your places!"

The party quickly disbanded as the entire crew ran to their stations to prepare for the performance. What would have taken hours at the beginning of the week was set up in mere minutes now. With everyone in position, Mario walked over to the curtain pulley.

"Everybody ready?" Mario asked one last time.

"You bet!" came the enthusiastic reply.

"Well, then, on with the show!"

Without any further ado, Mario pulled down on the rope and raising the curtain. The play had officially begun!


	7. Epilogue: The Day After Christmas

Mario lolled his head back in the easy chair and let out a huge sigh. Was it the twenty-sixth already? Christmas seemed to go by like a blur. After the play on Christmas Eve, he had immediately gone home and went to bed. The next day... Where to start? Luigi woke him up at around five (a new record) to open even more presents. Following that was a full day of caroling, feasting, and even more gift-giving. By the evening, he was even more exhausted than he was after the play! Now, it was the day after Christmas, and things were finally starting to get back to normal.

"Hey! Mario!"

Well, almost.

"Oh, boy... What is it, Luigi?" Mario called out.

"I could use a little help getting these lights on the house dow--- WOAH!!!"

Suddenly, there was a huge crash outside. Looking out the window, Mario could see a pair of wiggling legs sticking out the top of a snowbank!

"YIKES! LUIGI!" Mario shouted, leaping out of his easy chair and running out the door.

Outside, Mario quickly found Luigi again and freed him from his little 'predicament.'

"Ow... Thanks, Mario..." Luigi moaned, "The roof was a little more slippery than I first expected..."

"What are you doing taking down the lights already, anyway?" Mario asked.

"Well, Christmas is over, right? I gotta start taking these decorations down!"

"You don't have to take stuff down the day after Christmas! I usually leave it all up until after New Year's, at least!"

"That's easy for you to say. I live in a mansion, remember! Even when I start now, by the time I get everything down, it _is_ after New Year's!"

At this remark, all Mario could do was simply start laughing.

"Hey! What's so funny? Stop it!"

Luigi picked up a handful of snow and threw it at his brother. This got his attention.

"What the... You can't throw a snowball at me!" Mario protested, "I'm your brother!"

"It's the twenty-sixth," Luigi teased, scooping up another payload of snow, "Santa isn't watching anymore!"

Mario quickly retaliated by grabbing some snow himself and tossing it at Luigi. Pretty soon, it was a full blown snowball fight between the two brothers. After a while of this, they became tired and fell, side-by-side, into the side of a snowdrift.

"Phew... That was fun..." Luigi panted.

This was followed by a moment of silence before Mario turned to his brother.

"So, what do think the others are doing now?" Mario began.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, everyone has their own little 'Post-Christmas' tradition. Yours obviously is to get started right away on taking down everything. What do you think Peach or Daisy or Wario do?"

"Beats me..."

Mario continued to wonder about this as a slow, gentle snowfall began to come down.

* * *

"So, Peach, thanks again for letting me spend Christmas at your place," Daisy said as she dug through the 'royal refrigerator' for some milk.

Peach looked up from her plate of pancakes.

"Well, it's the least I could do. I mean, Sarasaland is a pretty faraway place."

Daisy finally found the milk she was looking for and grabbed it out of the fridge. Grabbing a bowl of dry cereal nearby, she took both to the table Peach was seated at and began to eat with her.

"You have any plans for today?" Daisy asked between spoonfuls of cereal.

"I was thinking about maybe later today checking up the orphanage and seeing how they're doing," Peach replied, "but otherwise, I'm pretty much open for the day. Why?"

"Well..." Daisy began, holding up the salon gift card Peach had given her, "I was thinking that, while I'm here, I might as well not let this present of yours go to waste..."

Peach's eyes brightened almost immediately. She stood up, grabbed Daisy by the arm, and began to pull her out the door.

"I knew you'd come around, Daisy! I saw the cutest haircut the other day that would look _great_ on you! Trust me, you'll look fabulous!"

"_Merry Christmas, Peach,_" Daisy thought to herself as she was dragged out the door, "_consider this _another_ Christmas gift from me._"

* * *

"Wha ha ha!!! Take that, sucker! Yeah, and _stay_ down, or I'll bite your ear off!"

"Um... Wario?" Waluigi asked, "What are you doing?"

"Huh?"

Wario turned from his fighting stance in front of the TV. In his hand was a nunchuk-like contraption.

"You're yelling at the TV..."

"No I'm not! I'm playing with my Wii!"

Awkward silence.

"Wario? Did you just say what I think you said?"

"Get yer mind outta the gutter, you idiot! It's that new video game system I borrowed from 9-Volt!"

"And by 'borrowed' you mean 'stole'..."

"Just because I didn't ask first doesn't mean I stole it!"

"Right... So, what are you playing, exactly?"

"Wii Sports. The boxing game, to be specific."

"Any reason why?"

"Simple! Today's Boxing Day!"

Waluigi immediately formed a huge sweatdrop on his head and performed an 'anime fall' a moment later. As he was getting back up, the phone rang.

"You wanna get that?" Wario asked, "I'm busy beating up this Bill Gates Mii I created."

"Sure, whatever..."

Waluigi left the room to answer the phone. A few minutes later, he returned, holding the phone.

"You're not gonna believe this..." Waluigi began, "... Bowser wants us to come over for a barbecue. It's BYOC."

"BYOC?" Wario repeated.

"**B**ring **Y**our **O**wn **C**oal!"

* * *

By now the Mario Bros. were back inside the house, taking down the indoor decorations. As Mario put away the last scented candle, he let out a sad sigh.

"What's the matter, Mario?" Luigi asked.

"I dunno... I guess I'm just sad that Christmas is over already..."

"Well, don't worry! It's only 365 days until next Christmas!"

Mario looked at Luigi oddly.

"_Only_?"

"Okay, okay... So 'only' is a little relative... But hey, think of it this way: If you keep giving, it's like its Christmas all year around!"

Mario thought about Luigi's statement for a moment. Giving all year around... Those orphanage kids certainly need help more often than once a year... After he put the last box of decorations away, he walked over to the phone and began dialing a number.

"Huh? Who are you calling, bro?" Luigi inquired.

"The orphanage," Mario replied, "I'm seeing if they have any volunteer openings for me."

"Oh, if that's the case, see if they have any for me, too!"

"Sure thing, bro!"

As it turned out, the orphanage was more than happy to let the Mario Bros. help them out, and in doing so, they gave the greatest gift of all: A gift that is given the whole year, not just on the twenty-fifth of December. A gift that is not a material thing, but a spiritual one. A gift that every person _needs_ and every person needs to _give_. A gift that was given to the entire world on that first Christmas and continues to be given to this very day. It is the gift of love.

Did _you_ give that gift this year?


End file.
